“Following the earthquake on Saturday, the President has instructed me to immediately put together a crisis committee to coordinate the emergency response,” Ceant said on Twitter.

Shortly after the earthquake, President Jovenel Moise urged the population to remain calm, adding that the risk management system and regional civil protection directorates were on alert to help residents of affected areas where access was difficult due to poor infrastructure.

Civil Protection also reported in its statement that teams were working throughout the country, especially in the northwest where two minor aftershocks have been recorded.

The earthquake was felt in the Haitian capital as well as in neighbouring Dominican Republic.

On January 12, 2010, Haiti suffered a devastating magnitude-7 earthquake which killed more than 300,000 people and destroyed much of the capital Port-au-Prince.